


Lights in December

by Hotalando



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/M, Family, Happy Ending, Loneliness, Marriage, Melancholy, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-18 00:24:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13088556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotalando/pseuds/Hotalando
Summary: These winter blues weren't scheduled, neither was anything else around them. All Robin had wanted was another of those planned Novembers but instead she received a totally new December. In the end, she didn't want to trade it for anything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution to the #FrobinWinter2017 tag on tumblr! I'm adding illustrations to each chapter as I link the chapters to tumblr, hopefully before the last chapter will be posted here. Chapters will be added every day from today on since the fanfic is already finished. 
> 
> **Important note:** The story happens six years _after_ my yet-to-be-finished Frobin fanfic _**Unexpected Discovery**_. You don't need to have read it, just a quick set up here: It takes place in fictional towns in Cornwall, Robin works as archaeologist at an institute, Franky runs a boat rental and repair service, Nami is a fashion designer and Luffy a carpenter. At this point, Franky and Robin are married for two years and a couple for five years. And I found it funny to have Rayleigh be the boss.

You could never be prepared enough for the first of December. In general, she never was but it also never mattered. As she could predict her family and friends’ wishes for Christmas from her sharp observation before they could be aware of it, buying gifts was always a task done by the end of November. After all, Christmas only meant as much to her as it meant to her family and in between them and her individual life, her December was quite undecorated. 

Usually around this time of year she would just be back at work after two weeks of vacation. Sometimes two weeks spent at one of their cottages, sometimes they would explore places of the world they hadn’t seen before. No matter what they chose to do, she always returned strengthened, inspired and energized enough to work through the mess of Christmas crazed co-workers until the holidays. 

She was lucky to have a job suiting her profession that didn’t depend on holidays or seasons. There was no extra work to be done and finished before Christmas, the chores and tasks were no different from other times of the year. 

“Robin, the table is clean.” And yet, she was unfocused, inattentive, and rubbing her desk off of dust for minutes now. 

Embarrassed by the obvious lack of concentration unusual to her character, she threw the cloth at the speaker and left for her private office. He wouldn’t mind the reaction, he hadn’t with those before, as much as the other two colleagues didn’t mind. Everyone could guess what was wearing their boss’ temper so thin.

But Robin couldn’t. Who would’ve _predicted_ skipping their November vacation could cause such a change? Admittedly, what probably played a greater role was the simple fact of her not taking off from work at all and instead joining a research team in Ireland that despite the bad timing and tight schedule she was very dedicated to support. Not having had a proper time off since August did take its toll on her. Draining energy and motivation from her, flipping her typical rationality over to irrational, counterproductive interactions with her co-workers. 

No one minded. Except of her. 

And coming home to a house full of Christmas decorations that didn’t even belong to them only fueled her mood.


	2. Chapter 2

Between the last of October and something 20th-ish of November was the time span reserved for their winter vacation. Three weeks to be flexible at planning their two week trip, one week left to spend at home with their family or household chores. A tradition unchanged for quite a few years now, none of them wanted to change it after all. 

Still, when Halloween season had come about and her husband had accepted each and every commission thrown at him, Robin was too sunken into their habit to react. Shortly before Halloween, the question had arisen whether or not they wanted to retreat to their cottage in the North. But then the offer from Ireland arrived the next day and before she had had the opportunity to think it through, she was on the plane to Dublin and her husband hidden from sight behind a dozen commissions for Christmas lights.

There was ever so little time for them to spend in between his jobs, those three weeks after his Halloween commissions and before the Christmas season, and Robin had never realized how short it was until she missed out on claiming them for herself. Having that time in November with him had lately made her feel as if _she_ had to submit a commission, luckily with a higher priority to him than all of his other clients. 

From spring to fall, it was Robin to be busy with work. Field work, always out and about and it left her husband with the daily routine job. During that time he would spend full days and nights at his workshop repairing and upgrading boats, with no wife to be home for him, there was no reason to leave work anyway. Once summer started losing its leaves, the dynamics would change. With lack of interest in boats during fall and winter, her husband had started offering complex Halloween and Christmas decorations, as in creating individual installations for private and commercial clients and also building them. Then he would always be out and about, spending days and nights at installing lights and objects while Robin had her usual 8 to 7 work days. 

Very early in their relationship they had come to the conclusion of needing a set time of the year specifically reserved for the two of them. And with that vacation, not seeing each other for three days straight at times during the rest of the year, it _was_ acceptable. But with each year, the demand for her husband’s creative work for the holidays grew greater to the point where she had to book flights on her own account half a year ahead, to guarantee he would definitely take off. Screw their original idea of deciding spontaneously what to do during the three weeks together.

This year, to her misfortune, she had to realize, frustratingly, that she had missed the deadline to send in her commission.


	3. Chapter 3

“I don’t think he means to treat you wrong,” her best friend said, putting down the tray before them. Her voice was soft and warm, like the vanilla tea she was serving them. Despite being a mother to twins now, she was still Robin’s shelter when she was seeking calmness. 

A heavy sigh stumbled over Robin’s lips. They were a little chapped, she noticed, maybe she should start paying more attention now with the cold and dry winds of December. “I know, and still it agitates me. I come home from a stressful day at work to find someone else’s Christmas tree in my kitchen. There’re boxes and crates all over the house. I know he has a system and it’s no chaos to him but it is to me.”

“I agree and pray for Luffy if he ever does it here,” her friend responded, her hand curled into a threatening fist, “but you either need to talk to Franky about it or work less and find a way to relieve some stress. Properly, and not by throwing dirty cloths at your assistants.”

Robin didn’t reply, couldn’t counter. Was there anything she could say that her friend didn’t know already? They both knew Franky and his obsessive behavior whenever his profession was involved. They also knew Franky and his intensive behavior whenever it came to Robin. Yet, this sort of knowledge was now crumbling at its seams. 

A sudden loud noise interrupted her train of thoughts and forced it to an halt, when clear brown eyes stared up at her, the grin of their father on their faces. “Is Unkie Franky done with fairy lights?” 

“Papa is getting them for you right now, be a little more patient,” their mother replied in her stead, well aware that Robin had no mind to remember all of Franky’s commissions. 

“Okay…” they sighed in unison, then one of them looked up to Robin again, “Are you eating dinner with us, Auntie Robin?”

“I have no other plans, maybe I am?” She smiled at the little girl, though looking identical to her twin sister who was a replicant of their father, she was coming quite after her mother. Said one was guarding the interaction with a wide smile, her chin propped up on her palm, one hand wrapped around the tea mug and ginger hair neatly tugged behind her ears that never lost focus on the other twin. 

Then the front door fell shut and the twins hurried towards it, a loud squeal of “Papa!” left in their wake. Maybe an evening spent with her family instead of alone at home would help her mood, Robin decided.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the sixth of December when Robin found a note stuck to the outside of her office door. ‘Take a day off’, it said, no name or stamp but the handwriting was definitely her only male assistant’s. Nice try, she thought, he was most likely in no more mood to be decorated with cleaning cloths, but she was in no such mood either. Dinner with Nami, Luffy and the twins last night had done impressive work on her mental state and she had arrived at work with a little more inspiration and motivation. 

However, the door was locked. And strange enough, the key was missing from its ring.

Defeated, Robin decided to go back home and work with the material she kept there. _They_ could lock her out of her office at work but not out of her home office. What else was she supposed to do anyway? It was 8.30 in the morning in the middle of the week, everyone else was working or at school, and at home she would be alone. No other time could be as perfect for working at home than now. 

Once settled back into the driver’s seat, her smartphone flashed up with a text by Nami. ‘Luffy and I got the job, have to meet with the client in an hour. Can you watch the twins?’ So, apparently, they _could_ lock her out of her home office. 

Upon arriving at their house, she was welcomed by the cheerful twins in the open front door. Dressed in fashionable winter outfits designed by their mother, they completed the decorations of the house front perfectly. There was a winding tree branch curving around the door, lampions in different sizes hanging from every twig and bringing light to the dark winter morning. Right underneath the twins stood, one dressed in a pale pink wooly dress, the other in an oversized deep green sweater with white snowflake prints to pale brownish leggings. They looked as much as the angels they were to Robin. 

“Oh good, you’re here already,” Nami greeted her with only a short glance while her fingers were fixing Luffy’s collar and tie. “I didn’t think they would want to meet us right away, I’m really sorry for calling you up on short notice.”

“No worries, _someone_ doesn’t want me to work today anyway,” Robin countered softly, hinting however that she was aware of the going-on’s. The look in Luffy’s eyes, the satisfied yet mischievous smile glinting in them was proof enough of the couple’s involvement. Well, she could use the time to look for her missing office key. 

“We should be back before dinner, have Sanji bring you lunch,” Nami continued, not paying much attention to either Robin or Luffy. She couldn’t fall out of her role of being overwhelmed by the sudden change in plans. “There’s nothing in the fridge, I planned to go grocery shopping _this_ morning.”


	5. Chapter 5

When it was dinner and their parents arrived home on time, Robin made sure to sneak out as soon and quickly as possible before the twins could convince her to stay. With the front door shut behind her, she stepped onto the stone path leading off the property, to have another look at the decorations. They were so subtle but enchanting, elegant yet playful, no doubt matching the family living inside the house. It had been a while since Robin last admired her husband’s work fully installed at someone’s home, instead of separated into boxes scattered all over their house. 

Seeing the perfected craftsmanship alive and shining with her own eyes awakened the realization how the demand for his works was justified—but also the guilt of resenting it at the same time. Lately, the idea of him failing his clients’ expectations created a sick kind of satisfaction within her, only up to the imagination that he would have less jobs and therefore more free time to be home with her. She never wanted him to fail other’s expectations for his artistic skills or out of simple nastiness or resentment. And she never wanted him to disappoint his clients—how cruel would she be to wish kids like the beloved twins ugly Christmas decorations? He had the skill and creativity to let the dark days of December shine and enchant, and she had never not been proud of him. No. She had only forgotten. 

But was it wrong to want some of that enchantment for herself?

Later she was surprised to find their else dark house inhabited by light in the kitchen. The casted ray from the window covering the rose bushes in the front yard had become a rare sight to her eyes. Usually, those few days Franky was home, he would be in the shed to the side of the house. Thus, Robin couldn’t help the worry welling up inside her—who knew?

Believing in her interpretation of their relationship, she waited for him to approach her in case there was something wrong. So she tried to act casually when entering the kitchen to store away the extra lunch Sanji had brought her. There was silence between them, just the noises they made for themselves—her shuffling around to pack the meal into proper boxes, him chewing on whatever he was eating at the table, and his fingers turning the pages of a magazine—as if living in parallel universes. 

A sensation frustratingly familiar to her but Robin couldn’t stand it any longer. 

Done with the rearranging, she stood by the sink to clean her hands and turned a little towards the back of him, one hip leaned against the counter. “I saw your decorations for Luffy and Nami today, the twins are in love with them.” When no reaction sounded, Robin pushed her luck further. “They asked me about them yesterday. Apparently they were awaiting your fairy lights impatiently.”

Abruptly he arose from the table, grabbed his dinner bowl and reached past her to drop it into the sink. “It’s not done yet. Have to get back to work.” 

Just like that, he was hidden behind his lights again, and Robin left alone in their dark house.


	6. Chapter 6

Two weeks before Christmas, the tenth or eleventh of December. The door of her office was open ajar, she had come to enjoy the scents of pine trees, oranges and cinnamon that were filling the corridors. Also the music playing from Heracles’ office she normally would complain about was a welcomed sound to her ears. Anything to make her feel less lonely was welcome. 

Suddenly a hand gripped on the door frame, followed by her boss sticking his head into the room. “Ah good I’m passing through—Sabo told me that he and Koala would manage the paperwork without you and that I should put you off the plan for next week. So I did.”

Robin looked up from the report on her desk with wide eyes of disbelief. “Excuse me?”

A chuckle appeared on the older man’s face, he stepped into the room and leaned against the doorframe. His knitted red winter sweater had a funny effect on his long silver hair and the long silver beard of his. “You’re off from work a week earlier starting Monday. I found Sabo’s argumentation quite reasonable and he deserves a week without cleaning supplies thrown at him.” 

“I happened to have thrown a dust cloth once at him for a stupid remark.” Robin straightened up, her arms lazily crossed under her chest. “He’s telling everyone every day about it, I assume that is why people think it happened more than once.”

“I know but you have to admit that it’s funny,” Dr. Silvers chuckled well aware of the risk his words bore. “You never lose control and nobody got hurt. Even Sabo laughs about it, you shouldn’t be so embarrassed.” With softened features he added: “We all lose control every once in a while. Don’t let it take its toll on you.” 

A moment later there were only Christmas chants and Winter scents in the doorway again. What reasonable argumentation?


	7. Chapter 7

Coming home Friday night from a stressful week of frantically doing hours to make up for the forced extra week off, Robin found an empty hallway. 

An empty kitchen.

An empty parlour.

Even an empty, cleaned up shed.

There were no cardboard boxes or crates anymore. No more commission sheets pinned to almost every free space the walls had to offer. As if none of it had ever been in this house, as if none of it had ever happened. And where was her husband?

She returned to the hallway and took a deep breath in and out, and another, and a final attempt at calming her nerves. With the quietness of the rooms now, she felt as if she could hear every small sound on these grounds, and so she listened to her surroundings. For not losing touch with it, for not missing out on a sign. 

And there it was. A rustle from above, beyond the floors and ceilings of the second level, through which the sound of faint humming fell. She turned towards the stairs and squinted, there was a pale ray of light on the wall of the upper floor. Curiosity exciting her like a hot glass of mulled wine, she ascended the stairs to the second floor, to discover the source of light inside their attic. 

But what if he wanted no company? Especially not hers? She made a decision to keep a distance, to test the waters first. “Franky? Are you up there?” 

Some dull noises, a loud thud and shoving, “You’re home!” His joyful voice echoed through the attic and down the stairs to her, hitting her heart in the very center. 

Robin figured from the sound of his reaction, a distance didn’t need to be kept. Feeling warm for the first time in weeks, she climbed up the stairs into their attic, with a mind too blank to expect anything. 

In the middle of several boxes and chests sat her husband, pine tree patterned button up shirt and red shorts and blue hair and all—a bright grin on his face that in an instant loosened all of her stress knots. 

“I was just picking out our own decorations. We ought to have some, especially when the twins come over.” The emotions highlighting his voice were mutual, they both loved the girls as an aunt and uncle should. Even though they weren’t real family, at least it felt true. 

Franky rose up from the floor, shoved some of the boxes labeled as “home decorations” aside and stepped close enough to plant a kiss to his wife’s forehead. “So, heard you have off next week. Wanna drive north for a people-free week?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end. For now. I'm sure I'll be writing more about those two in that AU setting and I still plan to illustrate it, so yeah, not really done yet. 
> 
> Other than that: The main story this one is based on, _Unexpected Discovery_ , will be updated soon, too.
> 
> With that said, thank you so much for reading to the end!


End file.
